Hello, it's me again. I'm still working on turning my bedroom into an aviary, but I would like some advice for the particular birds I have chosen so far. I have two tame budgies and plan on getting some princess parrots, and I know these budgies are not aggressive. I will be getting all birds as males. I am wondering on a third species, I would like some rainbow lorikeets but I'm not sure how they'd mix. I have found, too, that apprently king parrots mix well with princess parrots. My room is roughly 14 feet long, 12 wide, and has a good high window with bars over the flywire that is shaded by a bottlebrush tree. It contains one 5 foot long fish tank with 3 smaller ones on top, fully covered, one desk with shelving (Will be replacing with different parrot safe desk, complete with backboard covers for the cables) one bookshelf, one chest of drawers that currently has the budgies cage on it (Which will be used as a quarantine cage if needed once the larger cage is fully refinished) and one bunk bed. Flooring is currently carpet, but will be replaced with wood, and I will be screwing hooks into the ceiling and walls for hanging toys and perches all around. The large tank has a parrot safe stand and hood, not sure about chest of drawers and so will be replacing those, too. Doorway has pet gate to stop dog getting in, will be buying a magnetic flyscreen curtain, taking out the magnets and sewing long velcro strips on to stop parrots flying out of room.Aside from hanging toys, making up some foraging dishes and setting up some long branches coming off the walls and stuff, what would I need and how many parrots could I keep in here? My bed will have proper protections so I wouldn't be able to sleep with my parrots or anything, that's a very simple fix. I know people say budgies don't mix well, but these two, aside from being hand raised, I know are safe to have around other parrots. They are not aggressive. I have owned aggressive budgies before, so I can at least safely say these ones can be housed with other similar parrots like princess parrots and possibly rainbow lorikeets, though I haven't looked into the lorikeets properly yet since I'm focusing on setting up my room. I have found that there are other successful owners keeping an aviary with princesses and kings together, with no breeding pairs. I do not plan on getting any breeding pairs any time soon.

Sometime we do see some unexpected and unusual pairings in our captive birds, but you need to be very careful about the birds that you bring together as it could just as easily be a disaster resulting in injuries and death.

Wolf wrote:Sometime we do see some unexpected and unusual pairings in our captive birds, but you need to be very careful about the birds that you bring together as it could just as easily be a disaster resulting in injuries and death.

Wolf is right. I should have gone on to say that just like an unusual pairing can happen, 2 birds that "should" get along together might not.

I don't think you want to mix birds of vastly different sizes. And all birds together in an aviary should be flighted. They need to be able to get away if they are being bullied. Even then, you'll have to keep a close lookout for problems.

Yep, John and Wolf are right: nobody knows how one bird will react to another much less how two of one species will react to two of another species. But there is one thing that you might not be taking into consideration and it's time. You can't just get two birds of three different species and put them all together at the same time. You need to get one pair used to one another, to you, their new diet, their new home, schedule, routines, etc and then and only then introduce another bird (you could introduce two together if these two birds had been living together in the past but you can't do both at the same time unless this is the case - and, by living together I don't mean coming from the same store or breeder unless they are siblings which have been raised together). And each bird requires around 2 years to completely adapt to its new situation. Parrots are not dogs or cats, you can't just get a bunch of them, put them together and expect the arrangement to work out in a matter of weeks. For one thing, you should not quarantine in the same room, so that's a consideration. And, for another, you need to get each bird switched to a good diet and in good physical (each needs to be vetted separately) and emotional condition before you can add another one. Parrots are never 'instant' pets, each of them takes a good couple of years to find its own place in the flock and each new one you add, means the entire dynamics of the group will be upset for quite a while until they 'settle' down again - and then, they only really settle where they are supposed to if you know exactly what you are doing.

I understand this kind of thing, it's part of why I only want hand raised birds- because the people who raised them can tell me a bit about their personality. As for the sizes, the only big difference would be if I got a king parrot (My mum told me after I made this post that it's a big parrot). The other parrots are all smaller ones, closer to the size of a budgie (princess and red rump). As for the quarantine thing, I didn't intend to keep this smaller cage in here, as the chest of drawers is a great place for a parrot mini playstation, which I have. =P I plan on leaving the cage open as much as possible, and trying 3 layers of midge mesh to see if that'll finally let me have my bedroom window fully open in the summer months. And finally, I also understand that I can't introduce them immediately, they have to trust me first. And here comes another cage, out on the back porch. I planned on leaving a large gap between getting birds, and always getting them in pairs, especially after I found Chitters was so much more comfertable now that I have Chatters. If you have any tips on the time frame to introduce them, please tell me. Yesterday I found a guy with red rumped parrots in his aviary, and I couldn't resist asking. They were beautiful blue and white ones, and he says they're very similar to budgies, but like a large cage, larger than the parrot cage I have. So I'd have to have full cable guards down and everything before even thinking about getting those. And finally, I definately don't want to clip my birds wings! I have read up and know this will seriously affect my birds health, and it'd probably end up like the crested canary in the pet shop I didn't get my budgies from. It looks like a fluffly yellow baseball with a black wart for a head.When I got my budgies, while I didn't get them directly from the breeder, which I have to for the others, they were allowed to interact with finches and cockateils placed next to their cage at times. The pet shop would let them come out and play with people. I chose my budgies not only because they didn't have the aggressive traits my other two aggressive budgies did, but they were fine with being around the bonded cockateils that were for sale right next to them.

Well, breeders cannot really tell you anything at all about how the bird will end up been because babies are just that: babies -mild-tempered, loving, trusting, etc. It's when the bird becomes a sexually mature adult that you see the actual personality and that's also why, when you get babies, you need to wait, at the very least, a couple of years before you get another one (and that is for the small species, the larger ones require longer). As to the time frame if you get adults... well, I also recommend a couple of years because that, in my experience, is how long it takes for each of them to settle down into the routine and the mixed flock. When you have different species, you have to be very careful about the dynamics of the group because you can end up with a hurt and even a dead bird if you don't.

Just one more thing, in my personal experience, budgies can be the biggest bullies so, when you have different species, it's always better to have them in male/female pairs so their 'attention' is concentrated on each other instead of other birds and you should never have them cohabiting with very mild-mannered species (like cockatiels, for example) because they will stress them out something terrible!

Alright. I hope to one day have an outdoor aviary, but it doesn't seem likely I could have it while living here due to the problems with midges, snakes and foxes. At least eventually I'll have the whole inside of the house like a parrot playground. XD I'd even get a pull down cover to go over the stovetop, for example.